Anonymous Donors Pay Off Kmart Layaway Accounts

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Our last word in business today is: Mystery Elves. At Kmart stores around the country, anonymous donors are walking in and paying off the layaway accounts of complete strangers. It seems to have started in Michigan, but the holiday spirit spread. Kmart says the stealth benefactors usually ask for accounts that include toys.

At one store in Omaha, Nebraska, a dozen accounts were paid off in the last 10 days. At another Kmart in Tennessee, a young father was in line waiting to pay down a bit of his account when a woman stepped up and paid it for him.

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MONTAGNE: And that's the business news from NPR News. This is MORNING EDITION. I'm Renee Montagne.

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